AL Clark by Jonathan G. Meyer (digital e reader .txt) 📕
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- Author: Jonathan G. Meyer
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Taken in by the landscape, and with little to do, the captain and Al took a stroll down to the river around mid-morning. The sky was clear, and the air was fresh. If not for the alien life all around them, it might have been a perfect spring morning at home.
Al was helping Cody to store the sample cases when the captain asked if he would like to take a walk. Earlier, Al noticed the captain surreptitiously watching him several times. When Al would turn in his direction, the ship’s captain would look away.
While they walked, Al tried to find out why. “Is everything all right, Captain?”
“Sure...everything is fine. How about you?”
“I’m all right sir.”
The captain stopped on the bank overlooking the river and took a deep breath; enjoying the view. Unexpectedly, he turned to Al and said, “I’ve been wanting to talk to you, Mister Clark. Are you doing all right? I mean with your amnesia and all.”
The question surprised Al. “Well...I still can’t remember anything that happened before I woke up in the pod, but I’m doing fine otherwise.”
“It doesn’t appear to affect your duties,” the captain pointed out.
“Oh, no sir, I seem to remember a lot of things...just not about me.
“That must be terrible. Would you like to know more about yourself?”
“Very much sir. I don’t let it eat at me. Although it does concern me.”
The captain looked down at his feet and then raised his head to look Al in the eyes, “I’m hoping it will come back to you. Everyone should know their past.”
Al nodded and replied, “It would sure be nice to know my real name, even if I can’t remember the rest.”
In the middle of the river, something surfaced, splashed, and slipped back underwater. Al and the captain stood on the bank, watching the river to see if it happened again. Later, Al would wonder if maybe the captain knew more than he was saying.
****THE SUN BEGAN TO SET, and the explorers retreated to their shelter. They paused from their efforts long enough to watch the sun go down. It was a sunset to rival many of Earth’s end of day spectacles, and it made more than a few of them homesick.
After dark, they held their lighting to a minimum with only enough light to finish their cataloging, run some basic tests and prepare for the next day’s efforts. The team worked quickly knowing they had only one more day to gather all the information they could before they packed up and left; just after sunset the following day.
Earlier in the day, Doctor Cody and the biologist, Dr. Nestling, found some animal tracks in the mud by the river. There were tracks all over, but these stood out because they were eight inches long, with three long claws in the front and one in the back. They found only find two prints in the mud—as if it had appeared, and then suddenly disappeared.
Some of the group were crowded around a terminal, puzzling over the 3D images Cody and the doctor recorded using a data pad. The monitor allowed them a larger view.
“Looks like a big chicken to me,” one of Al’s men suggested with a wink.
“This chicken stands five or six feet tall, and could very possibly be dangerous,” the biologist retorted. “We should be careful.”
The captain warned everyone to keep their eyes open and report anything unusual, or that might be dangerous. “Do not forget—this is not Earth.”
The team ate when they could. Some managed to get a few hours’ sleep. The sounds of the forest and the river permeated the air, and in the distance, they heard an occasional unearthly howl. As the night wore on, they became increasingly aware of how vulnerable they were.
Al and his men were up the whole night watching the camp perimeter—for big chickens—or anything else that might cause a threat. He and his men were armed with MLP handguns, and the shuttle held three laser rifles capable of taking out a bear at three-hundred yards. Al was not taking any chances.
In the morning, they were too busy to watch the sunrise. There were bugs to collect, soil samples to get, and 3D images to record. The camp was abuzz with activity as they attempted to accomplish all that was needed before they left. At daylight, most of the team left camp to go out and finish their work.
At the base of a tree nearby, a security officer and the town planner discovered a basket. It was a primitive, hand-woven container fashioned from reeds collected by the river, and it overflowed with colorful fruit. They found it early on their way to document habitat locations and immediately brought it back to camp. When they returned, the co-pilot was the only one left at camp. He asked, “Where did you find it?”
The security officer pointed. “Right there...Not a hundred feet from us. We had three security men on watch all night, and they still managed to get that close without being seen.”
The co-pilot confirmed their fears. “Well...so much for our being discreet. It looks like somebody knows we're here.”
They called the security chief and informed Al of the find.
“You found a what? Where?”
“A basket sir...at the base of a tree about a hundred feet from camp. I don’t know how they did it.”
Al was helping to collect water samples from the riverbank, and this news was unsettling.
His officer said, “It’s a basket full of fruit sir—a fruit basket—I think it’s a gift,”
“You mean like welcome to the neighborhood?”
“I’m afraid so, sir.”
The captain is not going to like this, thought Al. The presence of natives nearby will complicate things.
When the captain heard about the appearance of the basket, he was not pleased, although, he took it better than anticipated. It was inevitable that first contact would happen sooner, rather than later.
“We’ll finish our mission as planned and leave as soon as it gets dark enough. Make sure that everyone is aware and ready.”
The captain explained his thinking by saying, “This is our new home. Like it or not, we’ll have to learn to live with whoever is here. We have nowhere else to go.”
All the samples and specimens were safely packed away onto the shuttle, and everyone on board was talking about the basket and the many things they had learned on Avalon. Al was in the back seat watching the forest as the shuttle lifted off.
In the gloom, standing in the shadow of the woods, a silhouette of something taller than six feet was watching. It appeared their departure was being observed.
The shuttle bay was full again as the first humans on Avalon returned. Everyone had a thousand questions, so the captain held up his hands and got the crowd to settle down long enough to say, “Initial findings of our primary site are promising, and it appears suitable to our needs. It is not quite as secluded as we had hoped. It seems the planet is inhabited, and we have neighbors.
“The mission...is a success, and we will post all our results on the shipboard net. Habitat modules will begin going down starting next week, followed shortly by personnel.” With a broad smile, he added, “Welcome home everyone!”
The returning team left the shuttle bay the same way they came—with cheers and whistles. The attention was nice. However, what they wanted most was to get cleaned up, get something to eat, and to rest. All the way through the hiber-pod bay, the medical bay, the park, the farm, and on to the habitat ring, they answered questions. The group responded when they could but politely kept moving. They had begun a new branch of human history, and it left them excited and tired.
Al was not too tired for a welcome home party. The doctor declared he couldn’t keep his eyes open, so he went home to get some sleep. Al and the rest of his friends gathered at Ana and Kayla’s to celebrate their return. Of course, his friends also had questions.
“A fruit basket...really?” asked Ana.
“A nice one, with shiny, colorful fruit in a hand-made basket; of reeds no less.”
“What do you think it means?” Liz wanted to know.
“Somebody wants to make friends?” offered Al.
Chris, looking thoughtful, said, “It sounds like the Avalonians are pretty primitive. Do you think it might be a tribute?”
“I don’t want to speculate—let’s call it a basket of fruit for now.”
“Is the water drinkable?” inquired Kayla.
“Tests so far are good. We will have to wait until the rest of the analysis are completed to determine if treatment might be necessary to make it safe. I am told it looks good so far.”
“What are the trees like?”
The discussions went on till late in the evening. Al answered their questions as best he could and told them what he knew of Avalon. They speculated on a dozen subjects, explained their personal theories, and laughed at each other’s jokes. Al could have talked about Shangri-La and their trip all night. Eventually, someone said something about getting up in the morning and yawning, and the party reluctantly came to an end. Al left to get himself some well-deserved rest.
****THE SECURITY CHIEF asked for and received permission to deploy two autonomous drones called Watchers at his earliest opportunity. Whoever it was that left the basket needed to be watched in return. As head of security, he was responsible for the safety of all the personnel sent down to establish their community, and he wanted to use all the tools available.
Al needed an early warning system and found just what he required underneath the floor in the security section. He knew what they were before he even opened the box. He opened one and removed the baseball sized drone that included technology that rendered them effectively invisible. They could float in a tree or circle a specified area at five-hundred feet silent and unseen.
The watchers were typically programmed to operate at a specified range from a center point. They could operate twenty-four-seven and had a three-hundred and sixty-degree field of view. If it detected unusual movement, heat or sound, it would move closer to investigate and transmit images to a security device along with an alarm.
He had to test them and surprised his officers more than once with his surveillance techniques in the days before departure. He would program the watcher to target a particular individual, and it would follow discreetly behind them; oblivious to the fact they were being observed. When a disembodied voice from behind would tell them to pick the mashed potatoes over the green beans in the mess hall, Al found the expressions on their faces hilarious. They, however, disagreed.
The return to Avalon involved
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